Axe Handle

[JimFin]

I have a vintage Stanley hatchet which I tried to put on a new 19" haft. Thought I did a pretty good job, was maybe a but too loose before inserting the wood wedge, but I figured it would still be decent. Drove in a metal wedge, final product looked okay to me. Took it outside to go test it out on a tree limb and it broke on swing number 7 or 8 at the base of the axe. This was a Beaver tooth handle company handle. What are some common mistakes I could have made that would cause it to fail so quickly?

The bottom end of the eye had some mushrooming that I should probably remove. At the time I thought it may be like that on purpose. This mushrooming caused the bottom end of the eye to be quite a bit smaller than the top. Did taking off too much material from the handle to fit it, just weaken it?

OR is it maybe just a defective handle I got? Give me your thoughts and wisdom! Thanks.

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[AmateurSawer]

Might have been a handle that the grain went the wrong way.Can you show a picture? Ash or hickory?
Grain should have been vertical or canted to the side only slightly.Never horizondel.

 

[JimFin]

Sold as hickory. Looked like it to me.

The butt of the handle grain looked like it was probably from a piece of wood close to center of the log. It was not very straight but curved towards OKAY orientation. Not good, but I figured it would have withstood more than 7 strikes. The kerf was running about 45° to the direction of the axe.

I've used lot's of hammers that had poor grain orientation for several years before they started having problems so I figured it would give me a few years good service atleast.

You can probably see some of the mushrooming on the bottom eye opening which I was thinking might have caused me to have to take too much material off the kerf with the rasp.

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[old guy]

That looks like dry rotted wood in the handle to me, and you need to file the burrs out of the eye on that axe.

 

[JimFin]

Okay, thanks for the advice. I'm glad I posed the question. After looking at it closer I was pretty much positive that the burrs were not originally manufactured like that, but wondered if it could have been someone's fix for a lack of an hourglass shape or taper of the eye.

I was having a lot of difficulty finding any info on how much larger the top opening of the eye of the should be versus the bottom opening. Are there any general rules of thumb for this, or does it just vary among manufactures with the general rule that the top opening should be larger than the bottom?

 

[dancan]

When you haft an axe the transition from handle to the axe head should be nice and smooth , a sharp shoulder will be a stress point and break even with good wood .


Mighty Mouse Logging LLC

 

[Woos31]

Also oil the bu-jesus out of it on the head where your wedge is, and as mentioned before make sure there's no flat shoulders for the head to sit on..........taper all contours from the pole into the handle and you'll have er.

 

[Marshy]

I thought I knew how to hand a handle on an axe until I watched Buckin' Billy Ray on YouTube put together some axes.

 

[Woos31]

I thought I knew how to hand a handle on an axe until I watched Buckin' Billy Ray on YouTube put together some axes.

Yes sir Buckin is a bang up hand at fittin axe handles to an axe head, he got me into doing that also........it's quite enjoyable

 

[JimFin]

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[JimFin]

Here's how it came out. My first try attempt. Couple coats of BLO.

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[JimFin]

Also oil the bu-jesus out of it on the head where your wedge is, and as mentioned before make sure there's no flat shoulders for the head to sit on..........taper all contours from the pole into the handle and you'll have er.

Oil the bajesus out of the inside of the eye? Or the wood?

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[JimFin]

This should be sound on a hickory haft right? They don't shadow

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[JimFin]

*They don't shape the eye eye differently or smaller for a synthetic handle that would not be suitable for wood correct?

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[dancan]

There is no "Standard" in axe eyes , just many different sizes and shapes .

 

[JTM]

That looks like dry rotted wood in the handle to me, and you need to file the burrs out of the eye on that axe.

+1 on both points. I recently took the peened-over burs off an eye using a round file for sharpening chainsaw. Was the cat's meow.